1. Season To Taste: Just because a recipe lists out the amount of certain spices and seasonings doesn’t mean you have to abide by that. Your mouth is going to tell you what you like best. So experiment a little and season to your taste.
2. Utilize the advice of others: Have you ever talked to your butcher or produce manager at your grocery store. If you haven’t you should be. They know about the best cuts of meat, the freshest meats that have just arrived or the freshest produce. Particularly the butchers can also tell you how best to prepare a certain cut of meat or fish. Utilize their expertise to enhance your dinner plate.
3. Create your own recipes: Recipes or ingredients aren’t set in stone. If you have some extra mushrooms in the fridge or a red bell pepper throw it into a recipe you think it would fit into. Don’t let good food go to waste. If you don’t like a recipe that has chicken in it and you think it would taste good with beef then switch it out. You will be amazed at how many new recipes you can come up with by adding or swapping out various ingredients. Expand your options and start experimenting a little and you just might come up with something amazing!
4. Shop for the best: Be picky with the quality of fruit and vegetables you buy. Inspect them and don’t be afraid to ask the produce manager for the freshest product. A fresh piece of fruit or quality vegetable can make all the difference in the taste of a meal or dish.
Same goes for meat or fish. Grass fed meat costs more, but you get a much healthier piece of meat richer in Omega 3 fats. If healthier food leads to a healthier body then why wouldn’t you spend a few extra dollars on higher quality food.
5. Utilize your local farms: Since we are on the topic of quality generally if you buy from local farms you will get fresher produce or meat and it is likely to taste better also. Not to mention if you buy organic or buy right after it comes out of the field you get a food with more nutrients in it.
If you implement these 5 Kitchen Rules To Eating Right your food will taste better and you body will thank you.
What Kitchen Rules/Tip Do You Use For Good Nutrition?
The Person That Submits The BEST Tip Wins A FREE Prograde Product Of Their Choice!
Your tips must be submitted by 11:59pm EST tonight Tuesday Dec 7th
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For me eating is very important. I like to plan ahead with my meals.
For starters I always like to have plenty of vegetables in the fridge. I will usually have some different veggies with every meal to keep variety and also balance out vitamins and nutrients.
I also like to always have a variety of protein around, So for example I’ll have canned tuna with with one meal and chicken with another. Then I’ll maybe have a scoop of protein with oatmeal in another meal. And then maybe eggs with another. They name of the game is variety. It helps with getting bored and tired of eating the same all the time. If you vary your meats and veggies it helps a lot.
Then like you mentioned originally it’s great to have lots of variety of spices around. That way your food will always taste different if you get bored…
The number one rule that I follow is to keep it simple. When it only takes about 15 or 20 minutes to make a healthy meal, it’s a lot easier for me to stay on track. Grilled chicken/salmon and cooking a big serving of broccoli and carrots with a scoop of rice and a big glass of water on the side. Quick, easy, healthy and tasty!
Number two is: when NOT keeping it simple, I make big recipes. If I’m going to spend a few hours making something, you better believe it should last me a long time! This can be a life-saver/goal-saver during really busy weeks, since it will only take a few minutes to heat up/defrost leftovers.
If you are a person who packs a lunch (or any mean) for work, then buy and use small travel containers as opposed to larger ones. This falls in line with portion control. I can think of many times where I mindlessly filled a huge container with food and I would eat the entire portion that I packed even though I was full just to avoid wasting my food. If you eat breakfast, snack appropriately, and eat your food slowly there is no reason why a smaller container shouldn’t suffice for a lunch meal!
measure and weigh….repeat!! Rules to live by!! I know, when I slack in this department, I gain!!
My tip is: When shopping to stock your kitchen, stay on the outskirts of grocery stores where the produce and non-processed foods are.
Also, when buying anything in a box or package, only buy items with 5 or less ingredients….that you recognize!
Because my family still enjoys their “unhealthy” food, we have designated several shelves in the cupboard for my healthy food. They don’t put any of their food on my shelves and I don’t eat any of the food on their shelves.
On the weekend, I prepare the food that I am going to take for my lunches during the work week. By doing this, I have stopped having Healthy Choice frozen dinners for lunch everyday. Also, I portion out the meat, veggies and grain (usually quinoa) in containers, then put the contents from three containers into the one I take to work to reheat for lunch.
My rule is keep good healththy food around so its easy to “grab” a meal. It doesn’t work for me to plan and cook much. I don’t have time! I need to be able to go through the kitchen quickly and have a nutricious meal in my hands to eat. So for me its all about the choices, and keeping the right ones stocked up!
@ Mike L.:
I use ingredients that either don’t have a package, or have one ingredient.
Another useful tip is to “see an expert” for your ingredients. For example, butcher, farmer, cheese monger, they know more about the ingredients than you do and if you become close they can give you hints on the best deals at the time.
A tip I use is to cut extra veggies up and store them in the freezer, such as carrots, zuccini, squash, etc. That way I always have veggies onhand to add to any recipe, even when it doesnt call for it. These veggies can also be blended in with a shake especially zuccini, squash, cucumber as you can hardly taste them when you combine it with the great taste of Prograde Workout. Happy cooking!
Cut More!! I usually plan a day or two a week to cook some good food so it is ready to go for the busy week. I will cut up all my vegatables during this time so they are convient and ready to eat or be used in a dish for later in the week.
Key Kitchen Item – colored flexible cutting boards. These are awesome! Each food has their own cutting board to help keep from spreading bacteria and they bend, so it is easy to transfer food from cutting board to pan or container.
Thanks for the tips. For me the beat thing is to shop more frequently. I find I buy too much thinking I will be using all the food I buy only to discover a busy week has food go untouched and possibly bad. Shopping more often means my food is fresher and in the long run I spend less because I only buy what I need.
Double that dinner recipe for a quick, healthy lunch the next day!! Mornings are crazy for most families with kids…so having leftovers eliminates any excuses for not having a clean-eating meal available in the middle of a busy day.
I usually plan on making enough for leftovers. That way I can bring a good meal to work with me for lunch without having to worry about running out to spend too much on junk that doesn’t even taste very good.
The other thing I try to do is make use of the crock pot…letting something slow cook throughout the day is an easy way to have dinner ready when you get home without a lot of fuss, and if your crock pot is big enough it can provide a few meals worth of food.
Whenever I grill or roast a whole chicken, we’ll toss the bones into the crockpot along with whatever veggies aren’t looking so good in the fridge and that we wouldn’t really want to eat anymore and make a good stock that night, and then we turn that stock into soup the next day. 1 meal quickly turns into 2 different meals with plenty of leftovers.
We also have a dough recipe that we spend 15 minutes stirring up on the weekend (we leave it wet so no kneading required, just a few minutes of stirring.) Then, whenever we want a loaf of bread, we just cut a hunk of dough out, let it warm up and rise on a pan, and then bake it for a half hour. So, when making a loaf, you are looking at 5 minutes of work and about an hour total time and you have fresh bread whenever you want it for about 15 cents a loaf, if that.
We’ll often make an extra loaf ahead of time and let it get stale; all our croutons for our salads are always home made and much tastier that the junk you can buy at the store.
(There’s 2 people in our household; if you have kids, you might not get as many leftovers quite as easily.)
Back to the basics. My children LOVE steamed broccoli–no butter, no cheese, no salt, no toppers. Basics are beautiful and help keep my life more simple. Thanks for this post!
2 for 1
most every time I cook, I try to get at least 2 meals for the time it takes to make 1 meal.
costco
I buy most of my produce and food items there. because they come in bulk, they last ~ 2 weeks. each week, I add something different and continue with this trend. it gives me a greater variety and saves some cash too!
countertops
keep only things used at least 1x/wk on the counters. anything else goes in a cabinet or drawer.
the rule of 3
I aim to have a protein, a fat and a carb (veggie and/or fruits) with every meal
temptations
don’t keep them in the house because you’ll consume them during weak moments
Write everything down. Keep a log of what you eat and your supplements. It helps you keep track and having it written down, you can see if there is a trouble spot, what was different.
Hello everybody, this is how I make my life healthy and easier in the kitchen every week:
I weight almost everything, and for fats I like nuts, peanut butter, olive oil. Almost always each meal will have 5 gr of these fats.
I cook my chicken breast in bulk, on Sundays at night. 8 to 12 pieces, with non-stick spray oil or a little olive oil. Almost always each meal will have 40-45 gr of lean protein.
Almost always each meal will have 15 gr of carbs. Pre and Post workout meals have between 30 and 50 grs of carbs.
1. My first meal are eggs; I combine them with beans or potatoes, and onion and sliced turkey breast. I use 2 yolks and olive oil.
2. Most of the time the second meal is cottage cheesse with walnuts and blue berries.
3. Chicken breast with vegetables and for carbs one of the following: brown rice, beans, sweet potatoe, yams. Peanut butter
4. Chicken breast with vegetables and for carbs one of the following: brown rice, beans, sweet potatoe, yams.
5. Protein Shake.
6. Salmon or beef with vegetables.
My Number 1 rule is to cook for the week ahead. Every weekend I try to do all my cooking so I barely ever have to spend more then 10 minutes in the kitchen throughout the entire week.
More and more professionals are recommending people do this and I agree!
1. shop the edges of the store
2. shop often.
3. replace milk with almond milk
4. Find ways to add green vegetables to every meal. Then add more!
Like a few have said plan ahead as much as possible, focusing on when you will workout. Eat more carbs before/after your workout and the rest of the day higher in protein, fats, fruits, and veggies.
I always make my own salad dressings, because I can’t stand bottled dressings, and they always have too much salt for me (among other things). Lately I’ve been using walnut oil, fresh garlic (always), balsamic vinegar, honey mustard, and a little salt. It’s delicious and makes me want to eat a huge salad as a meal, with a little leftover meat, fish or poultry and nuts on top!
I also have taken to buying nearly everything organic, now, from my local Natural Food Co-op, and I find the produce is of a far higher quality than I can get from my standard grocery store. It’s such beautiful stuff that I look forward to eating it!
To avoid overeating:
1) drink a full glass of water before your meal
2) serve yourself on a side plate instead of dinner plate to control portions
3) wait 20 minutes before getting seconds.
4) use a blue colored plate (blue decreases appetite, red and yellow increase it)
These are all great tips to abide by. Keep them coming!!
Jayson
Don’t wait to cook when you are too hungry: you will tend to nibble while you cook and eventually can eat so much in the time it takes for your selected dinner to cook, that you are not hungry enough to eat it, and can wind up eating way more than you had planned on.
Have a kitchen garden, there is nothing better than picking your own food. If you don’t have the room, lots of veggies grow well in pots and you can still have a great herb garden.
With kids going to school, or adults off to work, plan dinners that can be had cold the next day for lunch. The hardest thing to do is plan a school lunch that will be eaten so involve your children in the process. Learn heathly habits early and they should continue them when they are older.
Now I’m off to prepare a yummy prawn pasta to share with my 2 1/2 yr old.
@ Mike L.:
One rule to live by….if you feel guilty eating it, then most likely you shouldn’t be eating it.
Well, these are all great tips. I am a single lady of 53 and have had to adjust almost all of my recipes and methods to compensate for my empty nest syndrome, LOL. My first tip is to purchase cookware and appliance to fit the size of your household. For example, I found this mini-crock pot, a single serve blender and 5″ saute pan that are perfect sized for a single person. This eliminates over-sized portions for me. My second tip is to purchase protein products in large quantities and then portion to individual servings, wrap and freeze. This saves me so much money so I can afford to buy higher quality. Tip #3 is to never have sweets, chips and other delightful temptations in my house. This forces me to snack healthy when I get the munchies. 4 oz of Oikos, non-fat plain, with a teaspoon of organic cocoa powder, a drop of vanilla and half a packet of stevia and I’m set. And finally, my fourth tip is to Never, Ever go shopping hungry! Happy Holidays Everyone!
As Dr. Berardi says, if it’s in the house, it’s eventually going to get consumed. Make sure that there are never any temptations laying around anywhere. Give the unhealthy food (A.K.A. food that doesn’t fit with your eating plan and goals) to others to make sure you don’t veer off-course!
This is my favorite rule: Eat close to dirt. In other words, if it grew in dirt, go ahead and eat it. If it ate stuff that grew in dirt, go ahead and eat that too. If it grew in water that touches dirt, it’s also game.
And no, I don’t eat mud pies.
1) First meal of day: blenderful of raw, organic spinach w/protein powder, psyllium (for added fiber), organic frozen rasperries/blueberries and/or cranberries, with Kyo Greens. This gets me off to a good start.
2) Before leaving work in afternoon, I use my shaker cup to mix up almond milk w/protein powder & more psyllium. I drink this on the way home. This fills me up and prevents me from binging as soon as I walk in the door.
3) I’ve “discovered” greek yogurt! I often use it interchangeably instead of sour cream. I’ve used on pizza as part of sauce, dressing for taco salad (greek yogurt + taco seasoning). I’ve been amazed, that when mixed with other things, its hard to tell the difference, taste wise.
4) Most recently what is helping me tremendously is R-ALA + organic cinnamon capsules, 3x/d with main meals. Somehow this balances out blood sugar and cravings (for me, it REALLY works) plus is helping me become leaner in mid section.
I live in Qatar very near the fruit and vegetable market. There are lots of fruits and veg that I’m not familiar with (some look downright frighening!). I hang around some of the unfamiliar items and wait till someone comes up to buy them. I strike up a conversation and ask that person what they call the unfamiliar item and what do they do with it (salad?, cooked veg?, eat raw?, peel or pare?, etc.) Every person I’ve met has been helpful and I’ve learned a lot.
For those who don’t like to eat leftovers, or just for more variety, use leftovers as a base or addition to frittatas/omelets or soups. Those, plus stir-frys, are my go-to strategies for using whatever I have in the way of fresh food that needs to be used. Nothing gets wasted or thrown away in my kitchen!
I love the ideas from everybody. I try to eat my main meal of the day which usually is dinner, in parts. Of course Im hungry, duh its dinnertime and I work outside all day, so the first thing I do is preare my self my dinner salad w/ lots of vegetables and I like to add artichokes and black olives too. Eating part of my meal while I cook not only helps me use the 20 minute rule but also I eat slower cause I’m in motion, I don’t miss out on vegatables because the rest of the “sit down” dinner calls to me first. By the time we all sit down to eat I have “stabilized” blood sugar, my mouth and stomach are satisfied and i can really enjoy my food.
KEEP IT SIMPLE! My favorite meat to eat is venizon. Lean and clean!
In the wintertime, I make soup most every week by cleaning out the fridge. I use a liquid veggie bouillon base that has no salt (I add organic sea salt to taste later in the process). Then, I start adding meats & veggies & other leftovers & various spices depending the ingredients. You would be amazed at some of the combinations & how delicious your soup turns out. Try it!
I never throw out a banana. When they become too ripe and before they spoil I peel and freeze them and then can add to smoothies or oatmeal or even have for my wholesome banana bread made with quinoa flour.
I plan a healthy menu during the work week (easier to control what I eat when not at home). Protein shake for breakfast (flavors and fruits vary), mid morning snack of salad or nuts, lunch varies between another shake or home made sandwiches with carrots (in place of chips..for the crunch), then a light mid afternoon treat and dinner is the full meal with chicken and veggies (meats vary). The weekends are less monitored (within reason), this helps to stay on track and not binge.
With every meal, try to get a bunch of different kinds of vitamins and minerals. If you are going to eat, even if its a snack, don’t eat garbage. Eat something thats going to give you energy and make you feel good. A variety of Vitamins and Minerals will do just that. Vegetables are a simple addition to any meal. Keep lots of vegetables in the house.
One kitchen rule I always follow is add a little spice to your food. Spice will help boost your metabolism. It could be adding cinnamon to your oatmeal or grounded read pepper to your chicken. There are a wide variety of spices from super hot to something anyone can handle. Mess around and find one you like and add it to your seasoning. Who wouldn’t want a boost to their metabolism to help fight fat?
A few tricks I have learned to cut out immediate fat…when cooking ground beef and you strain out the grease, rinse with hot water, not too long as you want to keep the juice but a quick rinse works wonders. As everyone loves pizza in my house, a trainer taught me this trick to eat a green apple before eating a slice. It will fill you up so you eat less but the fiber in the apple prevents all the fat to be absorbed and passes the fat along! Also, the obvious if your pizza is greasy to blot dry. You can avoid up to 11 grams of fat on two slices. Hope that helps.
I choose to never limit myself but instead tune into what my body is really telling me. If I don’t feel like I need 150g of protein that day, I don’t consume that much. If I feel shaky, I first consider what could be making me feel this way. Did I consume the nutrients I need, have I eaten enough in comparison to my energy expenditure for the day and how does each food make me feel before during and after. Most people have lost the ability to listen to their bodies when eating so over consuming/under consuming etc. take an immense toll on body goals. By listening to my body each day individually, reducing and limiting my body fat comes naturally instead of feeling like I am constantly doing homework on it. It has made staying in shape such an easy and pleasurable way of life.
Remember your tips must be submitted by 11:59pm EST tonight Tuesday Dec 7th to be eligible for a free Prograde product of your choice.
Keep all the great tips coming!
Jayson
Well the way I make my meals and snacks healthier is by using products that are 5 ingredients or less. I try to keep my food as pure as possible and limiting the number of components within each item allows me to easily control what is going into my body. I feel that also keeping products to a few ingredients you end up getting quality products. This can increase the price at times but what I have found is that you do not have to eat as much to feel satisfied. It is amazing how eating quality and pure products how much better you can feel and how much less you actually consume.
Amanda
My kids love to snack so I always keep fruits and vegetables in the fridge. If they have access to things like strawberries, grapes, cut celery with some peanut better, etc they always reach for the healthy stuff first. And so do I.
Make your meals colorful. Who wants to eat a meal that is all neutral colored. I always use fresh herbs and colorful vegetables to beef up the taste and my family loves to eat the ‘pretty food’. My picky kids eat much better when the food looks fun.
Having different textures is also a big plus to making the meal enjoyable.
Plan, plan and prepare. I will spend the hour after shopping cutting up the vegies and storing them in green storage bags which do work. The most time consuming part is my special pepper melody. I buy one or two of each pepper (depends on size), then I chop every one of them to a similar size and mix them into one bag to use in my daily salad or with my eggs in the morning. I use every pepper that is sold for my mix. And it rocks!
If you really want to cut as much fat as possible, only eat simple carb( pasta, bread, cereals) once a week. That way your body will not store the sugars as fat and your body will use your fat as energy. But you do need to eat the simple carbs once a week to allow your body to think it’s not being starved, which will allow it to burn more fat.
good one @ Stefanie:
Start your day off with a green drink. I keep Prograde Protein on the countertop next to the blender.
Eat food that you like. I pick 4 meals that i eat consistently each weekday– and then have something different for dinner. By being consistent, I always know what to buy when going grocery shopping.
Try one new recipe each week.
GREAT IDEA – never heard about the green apple trick.- I do always blot the pizza!
Using my Prograde Workout for my post workout meal!
Many healthy recipes portion size is not conducive with the person cooking. A single person does not want to make a meal with 10 servings while a person cooking for a family does not want to cook a recipe for one. That is why I think every kitchen should have a calculator (unless you like doing fractions in your head) and a sheet with “chefs math” on it containing things like conversion (like oz to ml) and measurements that are equal (like 3 tsp = 1 tbsp).
My approach to healthy eating is to never have an empty stomach, eat often but eat smaller portions, I try to eat at least 5 times a day, this help me reduce anxiety to over eat and keeps me with a good level of energy, as I’m a triathlete I need to find space on my busy schedule to eat and to train so it’s good to prepair in advance several packs of healty snacks on ziplocks to take with me.
Always have something delicious and healthy at home ready to eat just in case.
Try to eat at fixed times 8AM breakfast, 10AM snack, 1PM lunch, 4PM snack, 7PM dinner.
Make your dinner smaller and your last snack a bit bigger.
Don’t ever get thirsty drink as much water as you need.
One tip I love to do is cook up a whole organic chicken roaster for dinner, then cut up and freeze in portion-size containers. I use the leftover bones to make homemade chicken broth in my crockpot by simmering on low for ~24 hrs with a few spices and onion, carrots, celery. Then strain, put into jars and freeze. I use the organic, homemade broth in soups, to sautee veggies in, and when cooking grains, like quinoa or brown rice, for extra flavor. It really makes my $’s go further and is super healthy!
@ Caitlin:
I love it! I’m gonna have to remember that! Eat close to dirt.
A tip for salads if you get tired of them…. Just about anything can spruce up your salad (so you get in your veggies everyday.) I’ve added dried fruit, fresh fruit, any kind of nut, cooked brown rice, cooked butternut squash, cooked sweet potatoe, herbs, different veggies….like endive or jicama…that you may not have trued before. (Not all of the above items at once and different combinations of.)
Also always try to use a lettuce OTHER THAN iceberg as your base for salad. Spinach, romaine, butter lettuce, mixed spring greens, field greens are all better nutritionally than iceberg.
Happy munching!
Since I have been unable to convert my husband to the rule of “no junk food in the house” I just put this stuff in the way back of the refridgerator or in cabinets that I don’t go into very often…out of sight out of mind.
Also, sit down for meals, put your fork down between bites and chew your food until liquid. These really help to keep each meal satisfying without eating more than you should.
Don’t have junk food in the house! I have binged on carrot sticks and hummus in desperation, but much better than binging on chips.
Defrost a handful of frozen blueberries overnight, stir in some plain yogurt, and eat with fresh-ground flax seeds as part of your breakfast. You can add Stevia, or even cinnamon if you want it a bit sweeter.
I steam brocolli in a strainer over the pot that I boil my morning eggs in, to give me greens without using more energy to cook them.
At the beginning of the week I cook a big pot of something to pack for my lunches, plus a big pot of something else for my dinners,so that when I get home from work I can eat right away, and packing my lunch is quick in the morning.
Raw almonds kept in the freezer for snacks.
Learn to love the healthy food that you eat!
An odd trick that uses your bodies survival instincts to burn fat! First step into the shower with warm to room temperature than turn the hot water right off and enjoy the COLD water for 30 seconds or more. This will actually use your Brown adipose tissue “(BAT) or brown fat” to literally BURN the white adipose tissue “(WAT) or white fat” in its place!
This has been found in babies when they get cold their brown fat activates to warm them up from the inside out “which is why when you fall into freezing water you feel hot after a few seconds”. This is why babies have extra fat
I hope everyone will enjoy this tip
Oh and if you live with lots of snow you can go jump in the snow in your skinnies 
P.S Im in Toronto!
also I have another tip!
“Olive Oil Shot” recipe
=========================
1. 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil
2. 1-2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar – for taste but it also contains
powerful antioxidant called poly-phenols which fight cell damage and
boost our immune system.
3. 1 teaspoon of fresh-minced garlic – another powerful antioxidant and immune booster
My kitchen is NOT the junk food storage depot. You willl find no junk in my house. If we have a craving for ice cream or cookies- we go out, buy it and eat it out, or bring it home and have a serving and throw the rest away.
We have one junk food day- Sunday. Pizza, chips, anything goes- but once Sunday night comes – it has all been eaten or thrown away. Amazing how well that works.
“If is isn’t there- you can’t eat it!”
For me, the statement, “Nothing tastes as good as the feeling of being slim.” It is my mantra if I feel like cheating with something really “bad.” I rarely crave sugar, having been away from it for approximately a year now. I also eat something that will satiate me before I go out, which is when temptation is at it’s greatest. That way, I only order something that will be complementary to healthy eating, or, if nothing on the menu is conducive to that, I don’t feel the need to have something just because I’m out.
Start the day with your workout, then you’re done…., measure portions, plan ahead, munch on carrots dipped in cranberry mustard and salsa while preparing dinner, drink lots of water.
For so many of us food doesn’t simply represent fuel but instead also has a social element to it. Sitting down to a meal is a time to share and exchange information about your day and experiences. I find that if I serve the same thing too often then the food gets boring, the conversations get shorter and I lose that time with my family. Instead, I look for different ingredients to try – whether a spice, vegetable, fruit, grain – the whole family gets in on the experimentation process. they are eating healthier without even thinking about that being the reason. They want to try new foods for the fun of it, not simply because it’s ‘good’ for them. It also means that we don’t get bored with a particular food – it’s likely never served the same way in the same month. I find that people love to talk about food. So… if I happen to be speaking with a client and they mention a family favourite – something I haven’t tried – I ask for the recipe. Sometimes it requires some tweaking to keep it on the ‘healthier’ side of things but it has given me a great breadth of recipes and my client relationships are strengthened because of my showing interest in learning about their cultures.